Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to the operation of an elevator system and, more particularly, to a multimodal user interface for destination call requests of an elevator system using route and car selection methods.
Description of Related Art
Destination request or call request is an important feature of an elevator system and is often the first interaction between a user and the elevator system. Conventional elevator systems operate in a single axis so each floor stop can be represented by a simple naming convention, such as using an alpha-numeric (e.g., Floor 2 or Floor B). A multi-axis elevator system, however, offers a potential advantage of using one elevator on multiple shafts and an increase of the distance of service. Each elevator car in a multi-axis elevator system can be designed for more stops in various locations and axes in addition to each floor of a building.
These increased capabilities of the multi-axis elevator system, however, may present a challenge to the user interface of the elevator system for call requests that mainly consist of a sequence of button presses. The floor stop naming representation may become more complex for a multi-axis elevator system, and the complexity increases as the number of axes increases. For example, a floor stop of a three-axis elevator system can be located at a particular building floor (y-axis), a particular corridor (x-axis), and a particular hallway (z-axis). The multi-axis elevator system may also have a plurality of elevator floors, corridors, and hallways. An individual using the multi-axis elevator system may find it difficult and confusing to identify the desired destination from each stop's multi-axis information. For example, the individual may wish to reach Floor 6, Corridor A, and Hallway B, but may accidently or mistakenly request a call to Floor 6, Corridor B, and Hallway A.
A multi-axis elevator system may also take multiple, alternative routes to reach the same destination. As a result, there may be multiple options that an individual can choose from to reach the desired destination. A multi-axis elevator system may have multiple elevator cars and/or routes that the individual can choose from to reach his/her destination. However, current elevator control interfaces, primarily designed from single-axis, single car elevator systems, are limited in operation when used in a multi-axis, multi-route, multi-car elevator system. There is a current need in the industry for an elevator user interface that displays multiple routes and/or multiple car options to an individual and allows the individual to select the desired elevator car and/or route to his/her destination.
There are currently several challenges in designing a user interface for a multi-axis elevator system. A first challenge for designing the user interface is in determining how to display the floor/level stop to a user. A second challenge for designing the user interface is in determining how to display the options of different routes to the user and receive the user's desired choices for destination and route. A third challenge for designing the user interface is determining how to allow a user to intuitively make a call request. Using prior art methods of displaying elevator stops in an alphanumeric representation in a multi-axis, multi-route, multi-car elevator system can be complicated and confusing to users.